The KDE Project has decided to stop supporting the X11 protocol with the release of KDE Plasma 6.8, scheduled for early 2027. After this, KDE Plasma will only contain a session for working using the Wayland protocol, the ability to run X11 applications in which will be provided using the XWayland DDX server. Prior to this, it was decided to stop supporting X11 in GNOME 50, scheduled for spring 2025.
According to June statistics, 73% of KDE Plasma 6 users who activated telemetry sending are already using a Wayland-based session. Users wishing to continue using a KDE session running on an X server are advised to use long-term support distributions that continue to support packages with X11. An example is the AlmaLinux 9 distribution, maintained until 2032, which provides an X11-based KDE Plasma session.
The X11 end of support only affects the KDE Plasma desktop environment session and does not affect the ability to run KDE applications in X server-based environments (there are no plans to end support for X11 in KDE applications). In addition, for those who require X11, support for this protocol in various desktop components will be maintained whenever possible.
Among the reasons for the end of X11 support are the general stagnation of X server development and the desire not to waste limited developer resources on parallel support for two display systems and session types. It is stated that in the long term, getting rid of X11 will provide new opportunities to expand functionality, increase stability, optimize code and speed up the development process.
In its current form, X11 cannot meet modern needs regarding multi-monitor configurations, high-pixel density screens, HDR, VRR (adaptive change in monitor refresh rate), simultaneous work with several GPUs, fault tolerance, input processing and security. However, there are unresolved issues in the Wayland-based KDE session, most of which are intended to be resolved before the release of KDE Plasma 6.8.